essential information for lindera students

Hi all... 

First off, let me say I'm very excited about this year's lindera course, not only because I'm eager to teach it but because I feel real good about the group of people involved. I deeply appreciate your interest, and also your support. Herbalists don't do well when not working within their community, and being able to teach what I've learned of the love of plants and their virtues is a deeply held honor. (aw...)

So, first things first...

directions...

MOST of the classroom days will be held at the River Hawk Annex, with one weekend's class room day (August 2nd) at the Huron Shelter at Proud Lake in Commerce Township, Michigan. 

Very specific directions to the Annex & Huron Shelter and each of the walk locations can be found here by clicking here.

To ensure your car or phone doesn't delude you, ALWAYS USE MY DIRECTIONS to get to classes.  Just searching for directions using the park name may put you in a different part of the park than were we are meeting, and park addresses are almost never accurate to get you to class.

class times...

All class times are 11am to 6pm(ish).  Class end times are dictated by the info I want to cover; and while we pretty much always end around 6, it's within the realm of possibility that on some weekends if we cover the info and, if everyone feels "full", we can end a bit early.  This, though, almost never happens.  Should it, I always stay till 6 for any class to answer questions and offer a less formal to the class at hand discussion.

Please do your best to get to class on time, ESPECIALLY for walks. If you know you'll arrive late, please let me know. If you ever need to leave early, especially on walks, for sure let me know (I don't want to think I lost you, that would stress me out!). 

phone...

Call 248-238-8733 for any herb or class stuff. I may call back from a different number (perhaps my landline), but this isn't a good number to call, as messages left there are far more likely to go astray.  Stick with 248-238-8733.

I am not textable, so don't expect a reply to texts.

what to bring/stuff to have...

You're probably wondering what to bring. Paper, a pen, a notebook, something warm to put on if you're chilled, and something to eat/drink.  Do cover yourself for lunch.

The River Hawk Annex, where most of our classroom days are, has bathrooms, chairs, bathroom sinks with not great water, and a water dispenser with good water.  I generally try to bring extra drinking water and an urn to heat water for tea (I may also have random teas on hand you can brew).

On the first weekend in august, we're meeting at an outdoor shelter; for that class, please bring a chair.

On some walks, we may not be able to stop back at the cars, so bringing things you can carry is a good idea.  Please do wear or bring weather appropriate clothing to each class; think footwear, too.  Be prepared for weather.  Walks are a drag if you're wet, cold and/or uncomfortable, or too hot and thirsty.  Because much of the land in this area is home to poison ivy, some people prefer to wear long pants and boots over shorts/skirts/sandals.  It's up to you.  We will be walking in places where poison ivy is prolific.  There are also bugs: mosquitos, flies, ticks.  You may want to bring some or another spray.  While I think DEET is creepy, some people use it and that's fine.  If you do choose to, at least spray it on away from people.  While not natural (though similar in structure to chemicals found in chysanthemums), probably the most effective thing you could do to prevent tick bites is treat a specific set of clothing you plan on wearing to classes/walks with permethrin, which will kill ticks via contact (meaning if they crawl on your pants or shirt, they'll die, usually within a minute).  My friend 7Song wrote an article on how to do this that you can read here.

(note that 7Song's cautions about its toxicity to cats and fish applies to the liquid permethrin you're applying, but not to the clothing treated by permethrin after it dries).  There's also a video that you can watch here.  

Know that I usually have stuff in my back pack; toilet paper, stuff for pain or allergic reactions, tick tweezers, bandages, tampons, and anything I can ever remember someone asking for or needing on a walk.

recommended herb books...

Holistic Anatomy by Pip Waller

T​he Modern Herbal Dispensatory by Thomas Easley

There are, of course, many other books that are awesome, that I think would be quite nice to have, and highly recommend getting...

plant ID/naturalist books for use in michigan...

You'll find a longer list of regional plant books I love by following this link:

www.herbcraft.org/plantbooks.htmlclass 

recordings...

I'm also going to be recording the classes with an MP3 recorder, which means you'll have all the classes recorded for later listening & review. This will help allay the despair if you should miss a class, since you'll be able to listen to the presentation and discussion nonetheless.

I upload these files onto google drive and them email a link to download/stream them. If you have a slow internet connection, it'll be a drag to download, so visit a friend or a library. Although I try my best to, I sometimes get into a work backup, and can't promise that recordings will be done X number of days after a class, or necessarily before the next class. I do, though, promise you'll get recordings for all the classes. Even if some technical glitch obliterates the recording of the class we did, I have past recordings from previous classes to compensate.  I may not notice these problems though (I don't listen to them before sending them), so if you notice something cuts out, let me know!Please please please NEVER share class recordings or materials without permission. 

discussion group...

I've set up an email discussion group for the course, where announcements & readings can be posted, questions asked and dialogue maintained between and after classes. Please note that I won't necessarily answer every single question that's posted there; the dialogue between all of you is in itself exceptionally valuable. You'll get an email that says you've been added; if you haven't, please search your email to see if it got filtered out of your inbox, and if you still can't find it, contact me.  At the bottom of each email, there should be a link in the footer that allows you to go to the group homepage if you prefer that to searching your email for messages.  if you're infamiliar with email groups, they work like this:  An email sent to the group goes out to all group members.  All replies to all emails go out to all group members (so even if the email says I sent a particular email, everyone will get replies made to that email).I also have set up a Facebook group for the class, but will use the email group as the primary way to send all important class info (as some people aren't on Facebook).  You'll find a link to the Facebook group in the email group.

weather...

If on a day we're scheduled to have a walk the weather looks ominous (not drizzly rain, but swirling green skies, lightning hitting the ground, or something decidedly severe) please contact me to be sure everything is still a go, as planned. It's highly unlikely that I'd cancel a class, but I may change locations of tweak things if weather dictates. Waterproof clothing is a necessity for walks. Really - even if you buy cheapo stuff, or a package of garbage bags. Not having waterproof clothing and getting wet and cold can derail a whole walk, not only for you, but for the group.  Rain pants can make the difference between happy and miserable on a cold wet day. 

local lodging & food...

I've got a listing of grocery stores with organic food, good restaurants and lodging options here:` www.herbcraft.org/localresources.html

payment...

If you haven't paid the full balance yet, another reminder that the balance for the course paid in full before march 1st is $1450; afterwards it's $1550.

If mailing a check (or planning to drop off cash) please contact me and let me know that either you dropped it in the mail or that you're planning to drop it off. 

If anything comes up that affects your payment, please contact me and we'll figure it out.

That more or less covers practical things, at least initially. I will also offer a few things that should be helpful to know: 

• I can sometimes be a bit time oblivious. Though I'm rarely late for my classes (virtually never), if no one tells me that it's well after when we were supposed to end, I might just go on rambling. Please don't worry about interrupting; let me know or feel free to bolt as need requires. This applies also to taking time for lunch or just to get up and stretch or clear your head. Cry "mercy!" as needed.

  
  

• If something is unclear, or you just don't get it, please ~ask~. Questions generally make class better. If I can't answer a question or need to keep going to finish a point or to make sure we finish the class, I'll let you know. If I need to pass on a question because of time, because I'm going to try to cover that info later, or some other nebulous reason only I may be privy to, please don't take offence or feel snubbed.

  
  

• If you contact me between classes with a specific question, and don't here back from me within a reasonable time period, please do write/call again. I get rather insane quantities of email, and sometimes it overwhelms me or things I mean to get to slip by me. If I'm crazy overworked, ask me at the next class. Be aware that questions about class and consults are different things. If contacting me about class/questions, I really prefer email - that allows me to get back to you when I have time to spare, and not pull as much time away from my family.

  
  

• Please, if you have issues with anything in class, talk to me about it. I've had very few complaints/gripes about the course in the years I've been offering it, but one I got came a couple days after the last class. That leaves me entirely unable to address whatever issue is at play, which I'd like to do if at all possible.  Your enjoyment of the class is very important to me.

  
  

• Every year some people drop off the face of the earth and stop coming to classes. While I used to contact everyone and make sure things were OK, it became kind of uncomfortable for people to tell me they just got distracted/decided their life's passion was in something else, or whatever. So, now I don't really make those phone calls/emails. I do hope if you've signed up for the course you'll make every effort to come to classes for the duration of the course, but if something comes up and you can't make a class, please let me know. It will ensure I don't wait too long to start (especially on walks) hoping you'll show up.

  
  

If you need to leave class early, especially on walks, be sure to let me know as well. 

Thanks, and I look forward to seeing y'all!